Percy Jackson and the Titan's Challenge
by hufflepuff4life
Summary: It's been four years since Percy saved Olympus. However, a new prophecy is made, and a new quest to follow. What will become of Percy, Annabeth, and the rest of the veterans? Will new friends and new monsters tear them apart or bring them closer?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson. Sad, I know. But I woke up at 2:30 AM one morning and came up with this idea.**

**A/N: Ok so. 2:30 AM. Was that a good idea? Please read and review, please please please. This is my first story and so I welcome any and all comments you may have :)**

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**Chapter 1**

**Percy's POV**

It's been four long years since the end of the war. Since we defeated Kronos. Since we lost so many brave warriors. Ever since I made that deal with the gods, new campers have been popping up all over the place. Chiron keeps telling us that Mr. D is complaining and that camp will need more space soon. However, most of us, the veterans, are busy with other things.

Annabeth and I are still going strong, thank the gods. I don't know what I would do without her. We both started at NYU two years ago. I guess we picked it for a few reasons. One, it was close to camp and Olympus. Two, it offered something to both of us. Annabeth is studying architecture (no surprise there, right?) and I'm actually studying environmental science. I know, I didn't exactly see that one coming. I don't think anyone did. But it really bothers me how so many pollutants are in our water now, and after seeing the river gods of the East and Hudson Rivers, I really wanted to do something about it. I didn't know something like this could be so interesting. I remember the day Annabeth and I talked about it, clear as crystal…

_I was walking towards the Athena cabin, where Annabeth was sitting on the front steps. She was wearing her usual summer clothes, jean shorts and her orange camp t-shirt. Her long, blonde hair was up in a loose ponytail and she had her arms wrapped around her knees with her chin resting on them._

"_Hey WiseGirl, how's it going?" I said as I leaned down to kiss her. Her lips met mine and I could feel her smile._

"_Just thinking, Seaweed Brain," she said as I sat down next to her._When is she ever not thinking? _I thought to myself._She _is_ the daughter of Athena.

"_I've been thinking too," I said. "I thought about it, and I know what I want to do an NYU. Do you remember, during the war, when I visited the East and Hudson River gods? Well, the rivers were pretty disgusting. I've decided to study environmental science because I want to fix everything. I know I'm the son of Poseidon and everything and doing this might be easier for me than for others, but this is important to me now." I sat back and waited for her to say something._

"_I'm so proud of you, Percy. Really. For wanting to make a difference," she said with a smile._

"_I was hoping you'd say that," I said, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her close._

So Annabeth and I applied to NYU. Thank the gods we both got in. She is the love of my life and I don't know what would have happened if it didn't work out. So even though camp hasn't started, we still get to see each other every day. It also turns out that some kids from the Apollo cabin, Abigail and Jake, go to NYU. Of course, they're in the nursing program. I guess they picked the school partially because of its proximity to Camp Half-Blood just like Annabeth and I did.

Anyways, it's the end of our sophomore year and we are all itching to get back to camp. We go back every year and help teach classes and stuff like that. "We" being me, Annabeth, Clarisse, Chris, Nico, and Thalia. Clarisse and I always teach swordplay, and we have gotten just the _littlest_ bit closer over the past two years. I know, I know, hard to believe. But hey, when you have to work with someone all summer, you have to learn to tolerate them, right? Annabeth and I are set to go back tomorrow, the day before the first wave of campers comes. It's usually in synch with the campers' school schedule. Right now I'm in my dorm room packing and I can't find half of my stuff for camp. _Shit! Where are those shorts?_

"Looking for these, Seaweed Brain?" I whip around to see Annabeth, my Annabeth, materializing holding her Yankee's cap and the pair of missing shorts. "Gotcha," she said with that smirk of hers.

"Holy shit Annabeth, you scared me! How in Hades' name did you get in here?" I asked her. I mean, we don't even live in the same dorm. And girls aren't allowed on my floor unless a guy brings them up.

"I have my ways," she said slyly. "Do you have a problem with me being here?" I pretended to think about it, putting my most serious face on. You know, the one you use when you're talking to your professor or something but you really don't want to be there. "Well then. I guess I'll just leave then." She turned on her heels to walk out of my room.

"Hey, don't go yet," I said as I grabbed her by the waist. She smiled, but it quickly faded when I said, "You still have my shorts." She whacked my arm with a look of 'hurt' on her face.

"Oh ok, so you care about your shorts more than me," she said with a pout.

"Well…" I said. She glared at me for a second, but nothing could have prepared me for what came next. She tackled me to the ground and had me pinned in a matter of seconds. I mean, sure I put up a fight but she caught me by surprise.

She smiled down at me and whispered, "I win."

**Annabeth's POV**

I looked into his sea green eyes and smiled. So what if I had snuck into his room? I knew deep down that he was happy to see me. I could see it in his eyes.

"Actually, Wise Girl," he said, "I win." And with that he flipped us over so I was the one pinned. "I always win."

"No fair!" I whined in protest. "You surprised me."

"You surprised me first," he said. He's so immature sometimes. "And do you know what happens to mean people who sneak up on others?" he asked with a sly grin. He put his hands on my waist and leaned down like he was about to kiss me. I felt his hands move and then-

"Percy, STOP IT!" I yelled as he started tickling me. "PerceeeAH!"

He kept tickling me and I tried to get out from under him but he was to strong. Damn his biceps and six pack…but normally I don't mind them at all. It's only when he uses them against me.

"Say please, Wise Girl, and maybe I'll be nice and stop," he said looking down at me.

"Pretty pretty please with a cherry and ambrosia on top?" I half-said, half-laughed. He pretended to think about this.

"Now tell me Percy always wins," he declared after a moment's thought. He looked down at me expectedly. When I didn't reply, he said, "Well ok, I could always tickle it out of you…" while moving his hands to tickle me some more.

"Ok, ok!" I shouted. "I, Annabeth Chase, hereby declare that Perseus Jackson always wins."

"Now that's better," he said with a smug look on his face as he climbed off me. He extended his hand to help me up. "Come on Wise Girl, I have to finish packing…and I kind of can't find half of my stuff," he said sheepishly. I grabbed his hand, smiled at him, and yanked him back down to the ground.

"THAT is for tickling me," I said, giving him my best glare. Then I smacked him on the arm.

"And what was that for?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"_That_ was for being a total Seaweed Brain," I declared.

"Yeah, but I'm your Seaweed Brain," he said with a smile and leaned over to kiss me.

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**So? What did you think? Why don't you click that little button at the bottom and tell me yourself! WOOT!**

**P.S. Erm. Imma be at the beach until July 25 starting on Friday so I won't post Chapter 2 until I get back. But it gives plenty of people time to read and review, right? But I shall keep writing, because what's a better/more inspirational place to write than the beach? PLUS I shall feel closer to Percy. So YESH for that :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_**A/N: So I didn't have the exact information on the Stoll Brothers I needed for the story. So. I decided to make them two years older than Percy-thus making them 22 in this story-and that they are year rounders at camp. I think this information is right…However, if anyone wants to review *hint hint hint* and tell me if they know it, I would be very excited.**_

**Percy's POV**

After our little wrestling match she helped me finish packing. Soon, I had all of the stuff I needed for the summer. I never take off my camp necklace, which now has 8 beads on it. I think my favorite one, even though it reminds me of everyone we lost, is the one from when I was 16. The summer we fought for Olympus. For our lives. I remember thinking that there are too many names etched around the Empire State Building, and I still think about that every time I look at the bead. Then there's the one from 2 years ago, the summer before Annabeth and I started at NYU. This new kid named Ian came and he thought he was such a badass. He was in the Hermes cabin, but this time because he was an actual son of Hermes. I took care of that four years ago.

Anyway, this kid thought it would be a good idea to play a prank on the Stoll Brothers. What a dumbass. Who in Hades' name plays a prank on Connor and Travis Stoll? He thought it would be a good idea to fill their shampoo bottles with chocolate sauce, fill their pillows with whipped cream, put ice cream in their shoes, and finish it all off by putting sprinkles on all of their clothes. A different take on an ice cream sundae you could say. But Travis walked in on him and pretty much kicked his ass. The kid had to watch his back all summer. So the bead from that summer has an ice cream sundae on it. We still laugh about it, and I think Ian learned his lesson.

Finding Riptide wasn't a problem, because I always have it on me. Then there was just the matter of finding my clothes. I had a little trouble finding my camp shirts. It turns out they were in the bottom of my closet, along with one pair of sneakers. I had all of my stuff packed by the end of the night and I was all ready for camp.

Of course, when Annabeth had ambushed me, she was already packed. Hell, she had probably been pretty much packed days ago. And I still don't know where she got my shorts…

**Annabeth's POV**

So I sort of surprise attacked Percy yesterday. So what? I didn't hurt him or anything. It was also kind of funny to watch him search his room for the pair of pants that were on top of his dresser.

I could totally surprise him now, but that would be mean. But we do have to leave in 15 minutes if we actually want to be on time. I think I have everything I need in my bags, so I guess all I have to do is check on Seaweed Brain and make sure we leave on time.

I can hear him mumbling as I walk towards his door, "Socks, socks, where are those socks?"

"Percy, I saw you pack them last night. Come on! I want to get to camp already," I said.

"And hi to you too, Wise Girl. And give me two more minutes! So impatient," he said jokingly.

"Seaweed Brain, you know me. I always have to be on time. It's something my mother passed down to me," I said giving him a knowing look.

"I know, I know," he said putting his hands up, "Daughter of Athena has to be punctual. Alright, I'm ready to go. Give me your bags and let's walk out to my car." Once you turn 16, you get special access to the Camp Half-Blood parking garage. Once you drive into the camp you take the "service road" up to the garage.

He's such a gentleman. He already has his bags, and I am _not_ a light packer. We walked out of his dorm building and to where he parked his car. He has a navy blue Jeep Wrangler, and it is his pride and joy. I don't understand the thing between boys and their cars, but it's kind of entertaining to see him like this over a car. He says the same thing about me and my blueprints. Anyway, soon we had the car packed up and ready to go.

"Ready to get to camp, Wise Girl?" he asked with a smile.

"Do I even have to answer that? Just drive!" I said, rolling my eyes.

**Percy's POV**

We made it to camp no problem. It doesn't take that long to get from school to camp. We pulled into my parking space, number 3 of course, and unpacked the car. I saw Clarisse had already gotten here, with her red Mustang GT parked in space number 5. Nico's black MR2 Spyder convertible was parked in spot number 13. This is the first summer he actually has parking privileges, and I laughed a little seeing that he had wasted no time in using them. Thalia, of course, is still a day away from 16 so she doesn't drive yet. Besides, the Hunters only visit camp a few times. It doesn't look like Chris is here yet, because his spot, one of the number 11's, is still empty. The other two spots belong to the Stoll Brothers, but since those two are year rounders they don't really use them.

Once we had all our stuff out of the car, we walked out of the garage and into camp. We saw everyone by the Big House, including Chiron. Connor and Travis were talking to two Aphrodite girls, Nico was, of course, sitting by himself with his nose buried in a book, and Clarisse was talking to Chiron. A few other people were milling around, but as soon as Nico saw us he started running over to us yelling, "Percy! Annabeth!"

"Hey, Nico! How you been?" I asked while giving him a hug.

"I'm good. I've been here since yesterday. One can only take so much of the Underworld, even if you are the son of Hades…" He turned to give Annabeth and hug and we started walking towards the rest of our friends.

"Percy, Annabeth, glad to see you've made it," said Chiron once we had said our hellos. "Let's go into the pavilion for some dinner." We made our way to the pavilion and sat down at the one long table set up in there. It's kind of a tradition that on the night before camp we all eat together, because if not we would _all_ be sitting at our own tables, not just me as usual. Chris came in during dinner, and Grover and Juniper appeared right after we finished.

"Well, half-bloods, I suggest you get some rest. Tomorrow is when the real summer begins!" said Chiron. "All of you to your cabins now, please. I'll ring the wake-up bell at 7:30 tomorrow morning. Goodnight!"

"7:30?" Travis complained. We made our way to the cabins. Clarisse and Chris were walking hand in hand, heads bowed close together in conversation. I walked Annabeth to the silver Athena cabin and kissed her goodnight. I made my way to my cabin, dumped my stuff, and sat down on the bed. I could hear someone in another cabin angrily yell, "Connor! Travis!" and them laugh. I didn't realize how tired I was until my head hit my pillow. I think I was asleep in 5 minutes. Well, as Chiron said, we have a lot to do tomorrow.

**Thanks for everyone who has review already or subscribed or favorited or alerted! I will update in like 2 or 3 days! Please keep reading, pretty pretty please!**

**P.S. Once I get going with the story and you get some more to work with and you have ideas don't hesitate to tell me!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So sorry for the delay. I know I promised 2 or 3 days but I was at my grandparents' house in the mountains and all and I would have updated yesterday but I was traveling home. Please don't hate me *ducks and avoids arrows* Ok well, here's Chapter 3. See the little button at the bottom? You know, the one that says "Review This Chapter"? Yeah. It's practically begging for you to click it. Enjoy the chappie!

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**Chapter 3**

**Annabeth's POV**

As promised, Chiron rang the bell at 7:30. I rolled out of bed and went to make sure Malcolm was awake and then I got ready. I pulled on some denim shorts and an orange camp t-shirt. I stuffed my Yankee's cap in my back pocket and grabbed my knife. Soon I was headed out the door to the pavilion.

Percy wasn't there yet, but Clarisse and Chris were. We were, again, at the one long table. After breakfast we would have to set up the regular tables for camp, but it was nice to be able to sit with everybody. I grabbed some food and sat down next to them. They were arguing about something I chose not to listen to. I waved Malcolm over after he got his food.

"Hey, sis, how have you been?" he asked while stuffing an orange slice in his mouth.

"Pretty good. Nothing too interesting. School was good this year, straight A's of course. How about you?" I asked while slicing a banana.

"Same here…Well, I did get one B," he admitted sheepishly. "Hey! It wasn't me, it was my professor!" he said when he saw my expression. "I think he hated me. Something about being a know-it-all."

"That can't be right," I said, "You don't know everything!" He glared at me before whacking me on the arm. "Well, I guess I deserved that…" Suddenly I felt someone put their hand over my eyes.

"Guess who," they said. I pretended to think about it for a minute. "Oh, come on, it's not that hard to figure out who I am."

"Seaweed Brain, get your hand off my eyes, I can't see!" I said as he sat down next to me.

**Percy's POV**

I sat down next to her and put my arm around her waist. "Hey, go get your own!" she said jokingly as I took some of her banana.

"So demanding, so demanding," I mumbled as I went to get my own banana. At that moment, I saw Chiron walk into the pavilion. He said something quickly to Mr. D and then turned to face the rest of us. At that point everyone had made it to the dining pavilion and we were all sitting at the table.

"Okay, it's 8:15 now. The first campers should be arriving at 10:30. You all know what that means. Okay, we need to divide up all of the work. Now, we need people fixing the dining pavilion into the regular tables. We also need people checking the cabins making sure that everything is in order. Also, we're going to need a few people checking all of the training equipment in the arena."

"Well, Jackson and I will go down to the training arena. I think we'll know if we need anything," said Clarisse. "I mean, it is kind of our thing," she added after a brief pause.

"Very well," said Chiron. "Just make sure everything is in order for your first lesson tomorrow. The rest of you split up by cabins as evenly as you can for the other jobs. Meet back here at 10:00 please." Clarisse and I started walking down to the arena. As I said, we teach swordplay at camp. I mean, some of the others help us but we're the main teachers. Come on, Clarisse is a daughter or Ares. She's a natural in battle and swordplay just happens to be her area of expertise. I honestly don't know where my skills come from, all I know is that I can pretty much kick anyone's ass in a sword fight.

"So Jackson, ready for another summer?" she asked me.

"Oh hell yes. Although I wonder if that _really_ ADD kid will be back. Probably…Remember the thing with the fluff?" I asked her. We both started cracking up remembering.

So last year there was this new kid named Bobby in one of our classes. He had a really severe case of ADD, more so than any normal half-blood. I mean, we would be in the middle of class and all of a sudden he would start chasing a bug or something. Like I said, really bad. For example, the fluff incident. We were in the middle of demonstrating how to disarm your opponent when the wind blew those fluffy-looking seeds through the arena. Needless to say, the kid completely lost interest in the demonstration and yelled "FLUFF!" It took us almost five minutes to settle the other kids down they were all laughing so hard.

We walked into the arena and made our way over to the equipment shed. It's where we keep all of the practice stuff like swords and shields. We also use the stock for capture the flag games. "Well, it looks like we have plenty of equipment," Clarisse observed. "Well that was quick."She was right. The shed seemed to have gained tons of equipment while we were gone.

We walked back outside and into the arena. I pulled Riptide out of my pocket and uncapped it while turning to face Clarisse. "Come on, Clarisse, a quick spar, just you and me. You know, for old time's sake?" I said with a smile. "I promise I'll go easy on you. A little."

"Oh, you're on Jackson!" she said as she drew her sword and charged at me.

**Annabeth's POV**

Once Chiron left us to divide the work, Malcolm and I stepped up to do the job. We divided the cabins as evenly as possible just as Chiron had asked and got to work. We ended up going around and checking the cabins. We had made it to the third cabin when we heard swords clanging in the distance.

"What the hell is that?" asked Malcolm.

"Sounds like swords…Do y'all think a camper could be arriving early?" said a girl from the Demeter cabin. She had arrived a few years ago and stays year round at camp. Her name is Caroline Lewis and she's just a little over 16 years old. She's really nice and the two of us are pretty good friends. She's also a real southern girl from rural South Carolina. That also means she's got a really strong accent. She says it's called a twang. Nico likes to use the term annoying.

"It sounds too close to be outside the camp so it can't be a kid fighting off a monster," I said. "In fact…" But I didn't get to finish my sentence because at that moment I heard someone yell "What the fuck was that, Jackson?"

"It definitely sounds like Percy and Clarisse in the arena. And Clarisse sounds pissed," said Malcolm. We all rushed towards the arena with more sword clangs and the occasional "Dammit!" reaching our ears. We arrived at the arena to see Clarisse and Percy in the middle of a sparring match. Clarisse was red in the face and dripping wet. Percy, on the other hand, had a cut on his leg and water enveloping his arms like sleeves. This could get interesting.

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**P.S. So I don't know if any of you readers noticed but I added a note to my profile giving my step-dad credit for the title of this story. It's pretty much the only thing I couldn't come up with for the story. so YAY FOR HIM. Oh, and Caroline Lewis is an OC of mine. I decided, since it would be good for me to have reference, that I would write a mini Character Bio for her. So I decided, "Why not post it for everyone to read?" So that's also on my profile if you wanna read it. Ok, new chappie soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok, I fully deserve y'all being pissed at me. I know I haven't updated in forever. And I feel really bad. But what with the start of school and planning my 15****th**** birthday party and everything else going on in my life, I just haven't had a lot of time to write stuff. And then I had to do the map because y'all had to be able to see what I was talking about. Although I think I made up for it a teensy bit by making this chapter basically twice as long as my other ones. And so here it is, finally, Chapter 4.**

**A/N part 2: Ok, new point of view! I'm going to try a new person as often as I can *crosses fingers*. We shall see how that goes…Anyway. Writing this POV was fun. Enjoy the new chapter!**

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**Clarisse's POV**

Damn Percy Jackson. Damn him to Hades. Just because he's the son of Poseidon doesn't mean he's so cool and great. But using his powers in our sparring match? That crossed my line.

"What the fuck was that, Jackson?" I yelled as he threw a ball of water at my chest, with perfect aim of course.

"Oh don't bullshit me and tell me you haven't been using your powers, Clarisse!" he shouted back. He was right though. I mean, being a daughter of Ares I have natural battle instincts and reflexes. Still. It felt like his powers were more…effective.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw something move. "What the hell are you guys doing?" yelled Annabeth. I guess we had drawn some onlookers. All the more reason for me to beat Percy. It was as if a new rush of adrenaline was coursing through my body. I attacked and slashed at Percy with new energy.

"Holy Zeus, Clarisse!" he yelled as I nearly sliced his chest open. I felt powerful and knew that I was controlling our fight now. I was making him jump all over the place just to avoid my swipes and jabs.

"You're gonna get it, Jackson!" I yelled as I started chasing him around the arena. Damn he can run fast.

"Hey Clarisse!" he said while turning around to face me, "watch your step." Being the son of Poseidon gives him more powers than I realized I guess, because at that moment I could feel the earth quake and tremble beneath me. Soon I was stuck in a huge fissure in the ground with my sword two feet away, leaving me defenseless.

"What in Hades was that Jackson? That's cheating," I declared as he walked over to me.

"Hmmm. I believe it's actually called winning," he said as he pointed his sword at me.

**Percy's POV**

I stood over Clarisse, breathing heavily and pointing Riptide at her. I could hear our audience clapping and cheering. "Damn you to Hades, Jackson. Fine. You win. Now get me out of this damn hole," she said. I helped her out of the hole I had made in the ground. That power was a pretty recent addition to my list of powers and it was already proving to be really useful.

I could tell I had wounded her pride. Losing, especially in front of our friends, was hard for anyone let alone a child of Ares. "Hey Clarisse," I said, "why don't we have a little rematch at our first lesson tomorrow. You know, show them how it's done?"

"Oh, you're so gonna get your ass whooped. Bring it on Jackson," she said with a wicked grin.

I walked over to Annabeth to see her glaring at me. "Do you know how effing STUPID that was? I mean, you weren't wearing armor and nobody was here watching you in the beginning and something SERIOUS could have happened and THEN WHAT? Nobody would have been here and then-"

I cut her off with a quick kiss. "Shhhh, Wise Girl. Stop worrying. I promise you nothing is going to happen. Nothing is ever going to happen to me. I can take care of myself," I assured her.

"I know that, but it still makes me nervous. I shouldn't be, but I am. I know I have nothing to worry about," she said with a smile. Then we heard the clopping of hooves approaching the arena.

"What is going on here?" Chiron half-shouted as he galloped into the arena.

"Well, looks like Percy and Clarisse here decided to test our equipment," said Caroline with a giggle. That made everyone laugh, including me and Clarisse.

"Well, let's get back to work, shall we?" he said. "We only have an hour and a half before they arrive and we still have some work to do. I assume not all of the cabins were tended to?"

"Well, we got a little distracted by Water Boy and War Girl over here," said Malcolm. "But we'll get right on it," he added quickly after he saw that Chiron was not laughing.

"And I am sure that now since their job is done, Percy and Clarisse would not mind helping you out with your task," Chiron added.

"Of course not, Chiron, we'll get right on that," said Clarisse. And we did. We went through all of the cabins and made sure everything was in order for the campers. Except ever since I had made the gods swear to recognize every one of their children, we had added quite a few cabins. Now all of the minor gods and goddesses are represented at Camp Half-Blood. That happens to make for a lot of cabins. However we finished in about an hour and made it back to the Big House by 10:00. The other group of counselors and year-rounders were already there and waiting for us.

"Well, now that we're all here it is time I gave you all your assignments for the rest of the day. As you know, we need people showing groups of campers to their cabins, people waiting at each activity area, and one counselor representing each cabin to get the campers settled," Chiron said. "Please gather with your cabins and decide who is going to welcome the new and returning campers." Everyone started shifting around in the crowd to find their cabin mates. However, since camp hasn't actually started yet a lot of the cabins have one or no counselors. And then there are the cabins of the Big Three. The cabins of Zeus and Hera stay empty all the time of course, and I'm the only one who ever stays in the Poseidon cabin except for when Tyson visits. That means that even though someone has to stay at each cabin, I don't have to because nobody ever shows up as a child of Poseidon. I don't resent it or anything. I mean, I'll always have Tyson, even if he's the head of the Cyclops army and living with our dad.

"Alright, now that that's settled, I need one counselor from each activity to report to their location," he said. That meant either Clarisse or I was going to have to go down to the arena again.

I saw Clarisse walking over to me. "I would rather not herd kids around all day so I'll head down to the arena," she grumbled. I could tell she was still pissed at me for what happened earlier by the tone of her voice and the hard expression on her face.

"That's fine," I said, "I like giving the tours anyway." I don't even think she heard me as she stalked off towards the arena. She left me standing with the rest of us who would give the tours and show the campers to their cabins. It looked like Annabeth, Caroline, Connor Stoll, Melissa, a daughter of Nemesis, Nate, a son of Nike, Evan, a son of Hephaestus, Amelia, a daughter of Iris, and I were left to show the new campers to their cabins. We started walking towards Half-Blood Hill where Argus would drop the campers off. Basically all we had to do was drop each kid off at their designated cabin. If we don't know who their godly parent is, we house them in a bigger cabin with all the other undetermined kids until we know. Then they move to their own cabins. This way the Hermes cabin doesn't get way too crowded. Usually a kid is claimed a few days into camp, so the Undetermined Cabin remains empty for the rest of the summer.

"Hey, y'all, here they come!" yelled Caroline. She's a real people person and so she gets excited before the campers arrive. And sure enough, we could see the Argus pulling into the camp at the top of Half-Blood Hill. As soon as the kids got out you could tell which ones were new and which ones had been here before. Basically, the returning campers ran straight down the hill past us to their cabins. The new arrivals, however, hung back and looked afraid of us. Chiron started trotting towards them to meet them and their gasps of shock and amazement were audible to everyone.

"Welcome, demigods!" he said. "This," gesturing to the camp, "is Camp Half-Blood. Here you will learn to harness your skills as a demigod and learn to fight in battle. Behind me are eight counselors here to show you to your cabins, where you will be staying for the summer. I trust most of you know who you're godly parent is but if not we can still accommodate you until we know. I want you all to separate into 4 groups so you can begin your tour." He turned to us as the kids were jostling into their groups. "I want you all to pair up so that there aren't eight groups running around camp," he directed.

"Well, we all know who Annabeth's going to pick!" said Amelia with a huge grin.

"Oh whatever," said Annabeth as she walked over to me.

**Annabeth's POV**

We all turned and looked at the new campers. The youngest ones were probably 7 or 8 years old, and the oldest probably around 13 or 14. Chiron assigned each pair of us to a group of campers and Annabeth and I walked over to our group.

"Hi, I'm Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena, and this is Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon," I said, addressing the campers. "As Chiron said, we're going to show you to your cabins. You also get to spend this afternoon getting to know your cabin mates."

"Don't forget to ask your head counselor any questions you might have during the day," added Percy. "Okay, let's start on the left side of the cabins!" We made our way to the left side of the cabins. That way we stop at the Hermes cabin first and our group gets considerably smaller. We dropped off about 15 kids at the Hermes cabin. Then we went around and dropped off 2 kids at the Eros cabin and 1 at the Epiphron cabin. Those kids never get along. I don't know who decided to put the cabin full of prude kids next to the cabin belonging to the god of sex. We continued on our way around the cabins and dropped kids off one by one. We usually don't have many kids in the Aergia cabin because she gets a little lazy and doesn't want to put up with having children, but we dropped one boy off there. When we got to the other end of the cabins, we realized we still had one kid left in our group.

"What's your name?" I asked him.

"Jake," he said, "Jake Clements."

"How old are you?" asked Percy. It was hard to tell exactly how old he was, and I was wondering the same thing.

"I'm ten years old," he replied. "I don't know who my godly parent is though. No one came to claim me. My daddy wouldn't tell me who my mommy was, but I really want to know."

"Well, we can put you in the Undecided Cabin until we figure it out. There isn't anyone else in there right now, but it's right behind the Morpheus and Alastor cabins so you won't be far from other campers," I said.

"Okay," he said brightly. "I just hope we can find out soon. I don't like being alone." I looked at Percy when he said that, and he had a look on his face that said "_We have to help this kid_." I completely agreed with him.

"Don't worry," I said, "we'll try as hard as we can to find out who your mommy is." He got a huge smile on his face when I said that. We walked him over to the cabin and he went inside. Once he was inside and the door was closed, Percy turned to me.

"Who the hell could his mom be?" he asked me.

"I honestly have no clue," I replied. This could get interesting.


	5. Chapter 5

**Any of you who have stuck with me, I greatly appreciate it. Timeliness is not a quality I possess, but I know that I've kept y'all waiting way too long. It's been months, and I feel awful. I'm not going to bore you with my personal life and tell you what was going on that kept me from writing/posting, but hopefully everything should be better now and I can update more frequently.**

**A/N: Ok, so I want to let y'all know that I made a change to the last chapter. I'm not actually posting the change, but here it is. I changed Jake's age from 10 to 14. I wanted to write him as older so he fits in the story better. I thought that, for what I'm going to do, it would be better for him to be older. So yeah, he magically aged four years in a mere 2 minutes in the timeline of the story.**

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**Chapter 5**

**Percy's POV**

The rest of the day went on without any problems. The old campers got to catch up with each other and the new campers started to get to know their way around camp. The Hephaestus kids went straight to the forge, and the Demeter kids spent a few hours in the strawberry fields. Annabeth hung out with her siblings for a while showing them her stuff on Daedalus' laptop, which left me on my own. I went down to the arena for a while, but mostly just hung out by the beach. It's something I like to do when I have time. I don't know what it is, but something about being near water calms me.

While I was sitting by myself, the new kid walked over. "Hi Percy," he said.

"Hey, Jake. Still haven't been claimed yet?" I asked.

"Nope, but I've been thinking about it. I'm not really sure who my mom can be. I mean, it's not like I have special abilities. I'm not good with plants, I don't know how to plan a battle, and I know I'm not a son of Aphrodite."

"Don't forget you could also be the son of a minor goddess. You probably don't know those as well. But you don't know all of this for sure. I mean, look at me, I didn't know I was a demigod until I was 12 and that's only two years younger than you," I said. He nodded, like he was thinking about it.

"I know, but I don't like not knowing who my mom is. I've never liked it," he said, his expression turning into a frown.

"I know what you mean. But I'm sure you'll find out soon. And shouldn't you be getting to know some of the other campers? Some of them could be your siblings!" I said.

"I would, but there's something telling me not to like them. I already want to hate them and I haven't even met most of them," he said while tracing lines in the sand. This was interesting, but I didn't really think much of it at the time.

"Some of the kids take some getting used to, but don't worry about it. The Ares kids are pretty difficult, and so are the Nemesis kids. But you have to try and be nice to them, or you'll never get along."

Jake's eyes flashed a weird, brownish-blue color and he yelled angrily, "But I don't _want_ to get along with them. I hate them all and I don't want to be here."

I didn't know what the hell had gotten into him, but it was definitely something I wasn't expecting. "Whoa, calm down, Jake. It's no big deal. You just have to get used to them, that's all. Nothing to get all worked up about," I assured him. He glared at me and then strode off towards the main camp. That was weird. It was like all of a sudden he snapped. Almost like he changed personalities. I was walking back into the main camp, trying to figure out what just happened, when I ran into Annabeth.

"Hey, I was just looking for you Seaweed Brain!" she said with a grin. Then, "Uh-oh. What's up?" I guess she could tell from my expression that something was wrong. I told her what happened and watched her expression change from confusion to her intense thinking face. Then it was like something dawned on her. I like to call it the "Oh crap" face.

"What is it, Annabeth?" I asked her.

"Oh shit. This is not good. This cannot be happening. Shit," she said, shaking her head. Now I'm worried.

"Annabeth. Seriously. What's wrong? What did you figure out?" But I barely managed to get the words out before the turned on her heels and started to sprint towards the main camp. I guess whatever she figured out means serious trouble.

**Annabeth's POV**

_Oh shit. Shit shit shit! _ I thought to myself as I ran towards the Big House. I was trying to completely process what Percy just told me but every ten seconds I kept thinking, _What the hell what the hell what the hell?_ But Chiron needs to know. Now. I could hear Percy yelling behind me but I didn't acknowledge him. His questions could wait. I went up the steps to the Big House two at a time and burst through the door.

"Annabeth, what's going on?" Chiron asked from behind his desk. He could tell immediately that something was up. I heard Percy come through the door behind me.

"Percy. Tell Chiron what happened with you and Jake,' I said, slightly out of breath.

Percy relayed the story and finished with "And I have no idea what all of this means, but evidently Annabeth does. So someone please explain what's going on." I could tell it was dawning on Chiron as well. "Oh crap, it can't be good if you think it's bad too," Percy added, addressing Chiron.

"No, no it isn't. Annabeth, please explain this to Percy. I'll be right back," said Chiron, getting up and entering another room.

"Ok, you remember how Jake said he didn't have any special abilities? You know, no battle strategy, no affinity for plants, no amorous powers. And how he said that he already felt like he hated the campers?" I said, trying to get him to figure it out.

"Annabeth, I remember all of that. I was there, remember? And I still don't know what you're going on about. So please just tell me," he said with a huff.

"Don't you remember what color his eyes turned for a moment? What other goddess' eyes are that color?" I said exasperatedly. When I still got nothing, I figured I should just tell him. "Percy. Jake is a son of Hera."

"Oh fuck. This is not good," he said, his eyes widening.

"You think I don't know that?" I asked. "What's going to happen? I mean, it's not like we can just go to Olympus and tell Hera we've got her son at camp. She's not supposed to have kids with anyone except Zeus, let alone mortals. It's totally and completely against her ethics."

"Right. She doesn't like us very much now, and she's going to hate us if we go to Olympus and tell everyone one of our campers is her illegitimate son," Percy said.

"Exactly," I agreed. "But it's not like we can keep this a secret. Jake has to know, and then the whole camp will know, and it'll get out eventually. We have to figure out how to tell Hera without completely humiliating her."

Chiron walked back into the room with a solemn look on his face. "Percy, Annabeth, I think it best that the two of you come with me. We need to go talk to Jake about this," he said while clip-clopping out the door.

"He can't be serious," Percy mumbled as he followed Chiron out the door. The three of us wandered around camp until we found Jake sitting at the edge of the arena, watching the Ares kids get some practice in before lessons started. He had a hard look on his face, glaring at all of the other kids.

"Jake, could you please come over here for a minute?" Chiron asked. Jake walked over to us, but he could tell something was wrong. Probably from the looks on my and Percy's faces.

"What's going on?" he asked us. Percy looked down at his shoes. "Just tell me," Jake demanded.

"Well, Jake. We have discovered who your mother is," Chiron said carefully.

Jake's face immediately lit up. "Are you serious? Well, who is she?" he asked excitedly.

"That's the thing," I said, treading lightly. His face began to fall. "No no, it's not like that. She's alive and all. It's just…a delicate subject for the rest of us demigods," I finished.

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking confused again.

"Well, Jake, your mom doesn't really like the rest of us. See…well, you're a son of Hera," Percy said haltingly.

Jake's brow furrowed. "I still don't understand what's so bad about that. I mean, isn't it good that you've found out who my mom is?" he asked us.

"Jake, you don't understand," said Chiron. "I don't know if you've ever studied Greek mythology, so I'm going to tell you a little about your mother. She is the goddess of motherhood, women, and marriage. She is married to Zeus, king of the Gods, but Zeus has always had illegitimate children with mortal women. You met one of them earlier: that was Thalia. Hera dislikes Zeus's demigod children because they are a symbol of his unfaithfulness to her. Hera herself refrains from having children with mortal men and has supposedly remained faithful to Zeus for all eternity. That is, of course, until fifteen years ago when she apparently had you," Chiron finished.

"Is that why I don't like any of the other campers? Because my mom doesn't?" he asked.

"Yes, it also explains the freaky color your eyes flashed earlier when we were talking," said Percy.

"My eyes flashed a different color? Cool!" Jake said with a grin.

"Well, we're sort of lucky they did. They flashed the same color as your mother's, that's how we figured out who your mom is," I said.

"So when can I go see her?" he asked. Chiron looked uncomfortable, and I could tell Percy didn't really want to explain it.

"That's kind of the issue," I said. "It's not that you can't see her, it's just… going to Olympus and presenting you to her would be, well, awkwardly uncomfortable for everyone. Not just Hera, but the rest of the gods and goddesses. Because Hera has never had a demigod child until you, and because she's not supposed to. It's not like we can just go up to all of the gods and goddesses and say 'Oh, here's our newest camper, Jake. He's a son of Hera.'"

"I guess that makes sense…" he said, trailing off and looking crushed.

"But," Percy chimed in, "It's not like you're not going to see her. It's just you can't go right this minute. We need to decide how we're going to do this, that's all."

"Right, and we also need to decide what we're going to do with you here until everyone else knows you're a son of Hera. I think there are a few other people, the older campers, who we can trust with this, but the other campers are not to know. We can't have them communicating this to their parents," Chiron said seriously.

"He can bunk in the Poseidon cabin until everyone else knows," Percy suggested. "That way he doesn't have to be by himself the first few nights."

"Thanks Percy," Jake said gratefully. I could tell he was relieved.

"I guess you'll just follow Percy's schedule for the next couple of days. That way no one will be suspicious," I added.

"So now I guess all we have to do is plan a trip to Olympus. This should be fun," said Percy sarcastically.

"We'll discuss this more tomorrow. It's time for dinner, so I'll see you all at the dining pavilion in a few minutes' time," said Chiron, clip-clopping out the door. Jake, Percy, and I followed behind him, walking silently. Before we got to the pavilion, however, Percy threw me a sideways glance. I knew exactly what he meant, it was exactly what I was thinking. _How the hell are we going to do this?_

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_**I want to give a little shout-out to my new editor named Amanda. She has been wonderful.**

**Oh, and also hogwartsismydrug for pressuring me into writing faster.**

**And anyone who has reviewed :)**


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